The giant cranes that seem to increasingly dot the Collier County horizon tell you all you need to know about the construction boom that has followed 2022's Hurricane Ian.
And all the redevelopment spurred by the devastation is supplemented by surging home, hotel and commercial building and new ongoing massive projects, such as the five-star Four Seasons complex and Great Wolf Lodge, the biggest resort in Naples. That Great Wolf matches Atlanta for the largest indoor water park in the Southeast.
But with that growth comes hurdles in a market where there are many more jobs than available skilled workers, and firms face challenges keeping up.
Many economists consider 4% or even 5% unemployment as full employment, a term which means generally that everyone who wants a job has one. With Collier's unemployment rate at 2.9 percent, the competition for workers is intense.
That's opening the doors to using increasing technology to get endeavors completed, including robot dogs and remote-operated dump trucks. And the industry is attracting and retaining young workers with a series of programs and partnerships. Here's what to know:
Construction:Why build Great Wolf Lodge in 'elderly, upscale Naples?' With locale, it has grandpa fans
Robot dogs roar onto the construction scene
The technology comes in various forms, and at times, evokes scenes from what had been futuristic movies or that "you've just crossed over in the Twilight Zone" as host Rod Serling would say in the old TV series. And now we're actually living today in what Serling had previously described as "a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man."
Partnering with creator Boston Dynamics, Suffolk Construction has been beta-testing a 2-foot-tall robot dog on various projects including at the Great Wolf site off Collier Boulevard and I-75.
"Our region’s incredible growth and a number of new construction projects requires an innovative approach to building," said Ben Wilson, Suffolk's Gulf Coast region chief operating officer.
Spot, as it is known, walks job sites and collects data to help teams and clients monitor and measure project progress, quality, safety and labor efficiencies, Wilson said.
"Suffolk leverages data to enhance accuracy and provide predictability by granting our clients real-time access to data and analytics to track project efficiencies, provide accurate cost estimates despite rising construction costs and maintain project schedules," he said. "This approach helps us address procurement challenges, mitigate labor shortages and control costs to meet our commitments."
With 360-degree capability and artificial intelligence, the robot is programmed to complete image capturing and laser scanning capabilities through a sensing platform that allow teams to better understand and visualize sites in a safer, more efficient way.
Moving at about 3.5 mph, this 70-pound mechanical beast may not move as fast as your Rufus and might cost a little more at $75,000, but it doesn't leave a mess.
With four legs working independently to navigate difficult terrain like gravel, rocks and hills, Spot does have the smarts and can move quicker than what a supervisor does in a matter of hours of walking the job, processing the info, distributing emails and making phone calls, thanks to AI tech from a South Florida company.
The software, as part of the partnership with Boston Dynamics, serves as Spot's "brain," according to Levatas founder and CEO Chris Nielsen, whose goal like Wilson's is not to replace workers but to potentially remove humans from risky tasks and improve efficiency.
Spot can step into dangerous jobs that staff members shouldn’t be doing, Nielsen said: “These are not jobs that we want, and we’re keeping people safe who aren’t asked and required to do these jobs and these tasks. That’s really the purpose. It is worker safety and then productivity gains for our customers. (It) is something that can enhance your team, upskill them, cross-skill them into new domains" as the need increases for more technical jobs.
Tech:The next Industrial Revolution? AI is here to stay, Levatas founder says
First simultaneous operation of multiple remote-operated dump trucks
But if Spot is reminiscent of a creepy episode from Netflix's dystopian Black Mirror, then the robo-trucks working the 780 acres of the future Caymas Naples luxury development are something out of the 1983 horror flick, "Christine".
“We really have just had a hard time getting people into haul trucks,” said Tomahawk Construction owner Scott Lyons. "I wanted an autonomous option."
Lyons got it from heavy equipment company, Teleo, making Tomahawk the first in the world to have one worker simultaneously operate multiple remote-operated and articulated dump trucks, according to Teleo.
Just a mile north from where the roar of the region's classic swamp buggy races began 75 years ago with mud-covered drivers working the new-fangled machines, a different kind of rumble echoes from a trio of more modern innovations, with no human sitting behind the wheel. Instead, a Tomahawk operator powers them in an office 40 miles away from the Caymas site off Collier Boulevard.
“It lets us expand who we would typically hire for a haul truck," Lyon said, noting he can run the rigs continuously.
Teleo retrofitted the haulers with technology called Supervised Autonomy that can be installed in any make, model and year of heavy equipment.
While machines are set to autonomous mode, they can perform routine and repetitive tasks on their own, like hauling materials from one point to another. If there are complex tasks that the autonomous technology cannot yet fully handle, the machine waits to be taken over by the operator, who switches between vehicles with the press of a button, Lyons said.
Tomahawk will excavate and move more than 2.2 million cubic yards of material from the Naples jobsite, a former mining operation where Stock Development plans to construct 457 single-family houses, featuring 280 acres of lakes and 270 acres of onsite preserves.
North Naples:What's biggest challenge on 'vast' Kinsale Golf Club in Collier County? Not big enough?
Preparing students for what's to come in Collier County technology
And then there's the human angle. Preparing the workforce for the continuous changes in the industry is key for local companies.
About half of Southwest Florida high school graduates employed in construction stayed locally to work in the industry, according to a 2023 study researched by Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida SouthWestern State College and the FutureMakers Coalition.
Programs like the Immokalee Foundation help provide the needed local firepower through partnerships and efforts with industry firms like Stock, BCB Homes, DeAngelis Diamond, Suffolk and others.
During a construction and career pathway program this past school year, Suffolk leaders educated high school students on various aspects in an industry career that can go beyond swinging hammers and involves STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“We believe it is our responsibility, as an organization and as an industry, to provide the resources and education for students to pursue careers in these thriving fields," said Pete Tuffo, president of the Suffolk Gulf Coast region.
That vision extends to working with local colleges, such as FGCU's Stock Development Department of Construction Management, which awarded its first degrees in 2022.
"I had really no intention of going to college," said construction management graduate Jack Murray, who received his degree last month and interned at contractor Charles Perry Partners. "They opened this program, and that just had my name written all over it. (At Charles Perry), I have a full-time job as a project engineer with them already before I'm even out of college. This has been great."
And the program has served as inspiration for fellow graduate Michael Cerami on what he sees down the line.
"What I see myself doing in the future, in five years from now, I see myself owning my own residential construction company," Cerami said. "This program has taught me all the ins and outs that I need to know, and the hardships that will come along the way. I can't wait to take that with me through my career."
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) grew up in Southwest Florida and writes In the Know for USA TODAY Network, which supplemented this report. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
Most Popular
Comments / 0